Feeling the Bern

You’re feeling the Bern, right? No? You don’t even know what I am talking about? Then you might be over 40 years old and not a huge fan of Social Media, I guess. If one would take social media support as an indicator for the next democratic candidate the chosen one would definitely be BERNIE SANDERS. Let’s have a look at Instagram, a social media app which range of influence should be taken seriously nowadays. Searching after the Hashtag #bernie2016 one gets 312,441 results while #hillary2016 only gets 148,846 matching Instagram posts. With an amount of 1.3 million followers Sanders also reaches nearly 200,000 more people than Mrs. Clinton does.

The reality might look different but it is remarkable how the 74 year old Democratic Socialist became such a hype on Social Media. The answer might be easy: People do actually LIKE Bernie Sanders. His supporters do not see him as the lesser evil compared to Donald Trump but as a likeable and humorous man. Humour actually plays a big role when it comes to Bernie-Supporters on social media. The Instagram account “berniesandersdoingthings” has over 60,000 followers and the only thing posted are memes starring Bernie Sanders (as the hero) or his opponents (as the bad and ugly ones). These social media accounts might be ridiculous and insignificant in the eye of experienced political consultants but the fact is that a huge amount of young people can be reached through these channels.

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